In our homes we sometimes want that channel of serenity that comes from the beach, the ocean. Using the right flooring can add a sense of calm to a room or special space and create a comfortable ocean inspired retreat. A soft blue color palette carpet can make a space feel elegant and relaxing.

At Giant Carpet One Floor & Home we have a number of different blue carpets you may want to consider when planning that restful retreat area. Samantha by Bigelow in Dusty Blue is a wonderful continuous filament nylon yarn with a Platinum warranty.

Exceptional in Rain Shower by Resista™ Refresh carries a Gold Warranty and is tufted polyester. Its casual free-form geometric pattern creates unique visual movement giving it a laid back feel. Our Ryan’s Creek collection in Rain Shower is from Resista™ Soft. It is a sculpted frieze carpet boasting a silky soft touch with advanced stain and odor protection.

Visit one of our locations and discuss with a flooring specialist what you’re looking to accomplish and the feeling you want when you walk into your serene retreat.

You can accent your home flooring with beautiful silk rugs. Because previously, these elaborate rugs and “Persian” carpets were handmade and took so much time to produce, they were so costly only the very wealthy could afford them. Today, however, almost anyone can afford to purchase distinctive machine made silk rugs to accent or use to make a statement about their home.

Silk has a higher tensile strength than nylon. These rugs are woven in a range of line grades from 300 to 720 and the tighter the weave, the more durable the carpet or rug. The majority of silk rugs are still produced in the Middle and Far East.

The quality and price of silk rugs is determined by knot count. Less expensive today, silk rugs and carpets are popular because of their uniqueness, stunning lustrous looks and flamboyant patterns. They are ideal for homes that like to make an exotic style statement.

Silk rugs are delicate floor pieces which should not be used in high traffic areas. They are used more as accent carpets, floor decor and throw rugs. They are also popular as wall hangings. Silk rugs and carpets require careful maintenance. Cleaning should only be performed by a professional cleaner.

If quiet is an essential component for you in your home should you install hardwood or carpet flooring in your remodel or your new home? Both can provide an excellent environment for your living spaces. However, if you have children or pets and/or are bothered by noise you’ll likely want to consider carpeting over hardwood. The biggest reason is soundproofing.

Where noise through the floor or ceiling is a problem, carpeting along with good underlay padding can solve two problems at one time: reducing sound transmission floor to floor and airborne noise.

For years, carpet has been the preferred flooring to compress unwelcome noise in the home. Carpet and pad provide better sound insulation over hardwood flooring and thus diminishing noise from loud children, clattering dishes, clomping boots, Television, blaring music, barking dogs or other household racket.

Talk with a flooring specialist at one of our Giant Carpet One Floor & Home locations for more information on your choices for reducing the noise in your home.

When you choose a colorful blouse or skirt but later decide it doesn’t really work you return it for another. That doesn’t work as easily when you’re choosing your carpet color to go into the living areas of your home.

Today’s carpet comes in many diverse colors and patterns to satisfy a myriad of personal choices. You may want the carpet color you choose to blend in with furniture and fabrics. You may decide to make a statement about your style by making it a vibrant focal point of the room by choosing a contrasting color. On the other hand, you may want it to match the walls to blend into the background.Many Carpet Colors

Carpet helps to create a home’s atmosphere. It can unite your decorative elements and can make a room look spacious. If you want it to match the furniture, draperies or painted walls, choose a carpet with a similar hue. Environmental colors like stony neutrals, deep greens, rosy quartz and blues are popular.

Darker colors in a room provide coziness while lighter colors make a room seem larger. Cool greens and blues have a soothing effect and warm colors can have a warming effect in a room that lacks light.

Practical considerations like new stain and soil-resistant yarns make today’s lighter colors easier to clean. The darker colors and textures are good at hiding dirt in highly trafficked areas.

Finally, know that the color you choose will change under different lighting conditions. So, you may consider a carpet sample that you can view in your home by daylight and at night by artificial light.

Most bathroom floors take a beating. Bathroom floors deal with everything from constant moisture, wet towels and hairspray to overflowing tubs, toilets and sinks. Bathrooms are wet, wet, wet!

A number of considerations such as traffic, children, pets and visitors should come into play when choosing the right bathroom flooring.

Unyielding to water and moisture, stone flooring is considered by some to be the ideal bathroom flooring. That’s why so many hotels have marble bathrooms. However, stone is cold, especially in the winter, and can become slippery when wet. To counteract these drawbacks, radiant heat and area rugs help considerably with stone flooring.

Ceramic tile is also a great choice. Ceramic tile flooring resists moisture, is low in maintenance and very durable. Still, tile floors can be slippery and cold. Radiant heat can add warmth here and some ceramic tile textured surfaces provide a range of slip resistance.

A lower cost alternative for the bathroom floor is vinyl. It’s easy to install, comes in many different patterns, but is less durable than tile or stone.

Surprisingly, a number of people choose carpeting for the bathroom floor because it’s much warmer. However, most carpet is susceptible to water, moisture, mold and mildew and doesn’t protect the sub-flooring under it. These same reservations can be applied to hardwood flooring, though durable, in moist or wet conditions it can be severely damaged.

Although laminate flooring is easy to maintain and durable it also doesn’t mix well with water and is not recommended for the bathroom area.

If you’re considering new flooring for the bathroom or any other room in your house, come into one of our locations and talk with a Giant Carpet One flooring specialist. We can answer your questions and help you select the perfect flooring for you.

Dirt, dust and other grime wear down all kinds of flooring. Shoes worn outside pick up various elements that stick to the shoes themselves or in the crevices of the shoes and can wear down carpeting and mar other types of flooring. Sharp edges on heels or shoes can also catch, snag, scratch and pit flooring.

Most carpeting today is soft and susceptible to absorbing dirt and other grunge that is tracked onto it from the outside. If not removed it can be ground into the carpet and stain it as constant traffic presses it into the fibers.

Though tile and stone are usually resistant to grime and dirt, the grout between the tiles is like a magnet pulling it in. This same dust and grime can form an abrasive layer on hardwood, laminate and vinyl flooring that can scratch and dull these floors. Winter weather, snow, rain, mud and water are another major enemy to almost every flooring surface.

Though it may not be typical to remove your shoes when entering your own home, or as a guest in another's home, by removing your shoes you can make the flooring last longer.

Your home décor can be cleverly enhanced by using area rugs. Like putting together a new wardrobe, area rugs can tie the look of a room together, add a touch of warmth and color or define separate spaces.

Area rugs come in all shapes, textures, colors and sizes to serve a wide variety of functions. No matter the various types of flooring in your home area rugs provide an easy way to express your taste and style and can be used effectively as a means of linking rooms. Depending on your own personal choices, area rugs can vary from subtle to wild or simple to extravagant.

There really are no rules when choosing an area rug. Selection should be based on your own likes and dislikes. No permanent installation makes life easy but with large rugs you may have to move some furniture. Maintaining beautiful area rugs depends on specific usage as well as its construction material.

The amount of care needed to help maintain the beauty of these rugs will vary according to rug’s material and construction as well as the specific usage. The first rule of choosing an area rug is to understand there really are no rules per se. Since much of the selection process is based on your own personal taste and sense of style, we simply offer some general guidelines instead.

There are some guiding principles that may help you in choosing what will work for you. If you’re looking at getting a room size rug consider leaving an 18" to 24" border on all sides. In the dining area, give yourself at least 4 feet longer and wider than the dining room table so chairs when pushed back from the table don’t fall off the rug. In the hall, your rugs should be around 2" to 4" narrower and 18" to 24" shorter than the hallway. For a coordinated look consider using some common colors with different patterns. Think about using round or oval shapes as a way to bring new life into a room rather than traditional square or rectangular rugs.

Stop by and discuss your area rug needs with one of our flooring specialists at Giant Carpet One Floor & Home.

If your decorating prayers are for beautiful floors while the reality of your life is constrained by budget and practicality, versatile resilient vinyl flooring may be the answer. Resilient vinyl flooring can give you the beauty and durability you want at a price that won’t break the bank. It’s a great choice for kitchens, bathrooms and other areas since it’s easy to keep clean, is durable, water resistant and doesn’t fade, stain, or dent.

Resilient vinyl flooring shares some of the same qualities as carpet – it’s flexible and soft to walk on. Like carpet, it can go on a sub-floor that isn’t perfectly level. All vinyl floors are resilient and have that cushy “give” that feels so good underfoot. At the same time if you’re dealing at all with teetering toddlers, sippy cups, juices, various science projects, perhaps even wet animals, muddy footprints or gardening challenges – this is the right flooring for you.

Vinyl flooring comes in sheets, planks and tiles (Vinyl Composition Tiles or VCT) providing you great latitude for self-expression. Artistically you can use contrasting sheet vinyl to create large patterns. The tiles can be arranged any way you want them. Think stripes, checkerboard or dizzying diagonals or choose vinyl or resilient planks that look just like traditional wood flooring.

Vinyl flooring is for homeowners who want beauty, practicality and durability on a budget. Come in today and visit one of our Giant Carpet One flooring specialists to review the many options available to you in resilient vinyl flooring.

If you’re looking for a warm, inviting environment in your living spaces with flooring that has excellent durability, you’ll want to consider today’s newest laminate flooring designs. Laminate is a manufactured product that simulates the look of other types of natural flooring. Laminate flooring is easily maintained, does not need to be varnished or waxed, is stain resistant and has an excellent long-wearing surface.

Today’s laminate flooring can give you a look of ceramic tiles, realistic wood or natural stone and textures that resemble other premium flooring. Laminate flooring is excellent for young families who have children and pets. It provides the kind of decor and protection that busy households can rely on.

Laminate flooring is well suited for homeowners who want the look and feel of real natural products but don’t want to invest in or maintain them. Visit one of our Giant Carpet One flooring stores today to see the many options available to you in laminate flooring.

Since hardwood flooring comes in a broad assortment of types and colors you can choose and even design your floors to add or reflect your own personality.

Hardwood flooring considerations ought to include your lifestyle, your home’s design, the climate you live in and your budget. When homeowners consider incorporating hardwood flooring ideas into their homes design, the options can be infinite!

Taken as whole, begin with the feeling you ultimately want. Besides the functionality, when choosing hardwood floors imagine the area the floor will occupy and plan a design that will go with the overall area. Consider the basic size (small, medium or large) and design of the space in your planning.

Find the midpoint of the room and make that the central point of the design. This will also be the spot from which you lay out your furnishings and rugs. Craft a balance by considering an imaginary line down the middle of the room and matching the essentials on both sides. You may want to entertain the idea of a border as a link between areas.

In a traditional fashion, oak and ash flooring are in style. Rich color finishes like mahogany and honey hues have appeal and are worth considering.

A more modern or contemporary approach suggests maple or exotic hardwoods. A lustrous, high gloss, dark stained finish floor may work best here.

Rustic River

For a comfy or rustic approach, hickory or cherry hardwoods are universal. These antiqued and hand-scraped hardwoods come in a variety of color finishes.

If you’re thinking about contrasts, perhaps deliberate flooring with a dark finish and light furniture or vice versa. You may also want to try matching your flooring to other essentials in the room.

No matter what you want to achieve, come in to a Giant Carpet One Floor & Home location and talk to one of our specialists about your hardwood flooring personality.